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“Where’d you go to school? Denver? Maybe it was college. You remind me of someone. You have a movie star look to you,” Janice said with a grin then waved her hand. “Don’t worry, I’ll figure it out. It’ll probably come to me in the middle of the night.”
That’s what Olivia was afraid of. She gave Janice a tight smile as she edged away. She had to get out of there – now. She needed to get home and lock the door where no one could give her speculative looks and ask too many questions. “Well, I won’t bother you any longer. I just stopped by to see if Paul wanted to come over for dinner, but it looks like his food is taken care of tonight. It was nice meeting you, Janice.”
“You too,” Janice responded with an absent frown. As Olivia hurried to the door she realized she hadn’t introduced herself. But that didn’t matter. If Janice remembered why she recognized Olivia, then she would be packing and leaving soon anyway.
***
“I know her from somewhere,” Janice mumbled as she pulled Paul’s shirts from the dryer. “Why don’t you ever wash your own clothes?” she growled as she dumped the clean load into a basket.
“Because you always do it for me,” Paul answered with a shrug as he took a bite of his mother’s chicken casserole. It was nice that all the women in his family thought he was helpless. “How do you know her?”
“Chelsey? I’m not sure. It’ll bug me until I figure it out. It’s one of those things where it’s on the tip of my tongue but I can’t form the word, you know? But I do know I’ve seen her somewhere. What about you?” She eyed him with interest as she folded his favorite tee shirt. “You’ve really got a thing for this girl, don’t you?”
Paul shrugged again but didn’t bother to answer. He knew if he revealed too much to Janice then his entire family would know the story by tomorrow afternoon. He’d get messages online from distant cousins and have his mother planning the wedding. “She’s nice. And yeah, I have a thing for her. She needs someone to look out for her.”
“And you want to be her knight in shining armor. Well, be careful, Paul. You did the same thing for that girl, Jodee, and look how it messed you up. Don’t confuse duty with personal feelings and get yourself wrapped up in some weird sense of obligation.”
“Since when did I come to you for counseling?” Paul grumbled but he knew Janice was right. Was he confusing attraction for Liv with a misplaced need to make penance for Jodee? Liv had told him often enough to leave matters alone but he couldn’t. His drive to protect her pushed him forward. She needed his help whether she wanted it or not and he couldn’t turn away.
“You’re my brother and I love you, which is why I get to stick my nose in your business,” Janice retorted. “You need to take a step back from this situation and think about your motives.”
“You’re saying you don’t like her?”
“No, I’m not saying that at all.” Janice reached for another shirt and folded it as she considered her answer. “Something just seems off, like she doesn’t belong, you know? It’s like that show where the CEO wears a disguise and slums it with his entry level employees. She’s high class and she doesn’t belong here. You think she got in trouble for embezzling and is in hiding now? Maybe she left her rich husband and is waiting for him to come apologize for all his affairs and sweep her off her feet.”
“Or maybe you watch too much TV and her life is none of your business,” Paul growled.
Janice ignored his warning. “Maybe she’s an actress and that’s how I know her.”
“Leave it alone, Janny. I have no idea why she’s hiding but I have a feeling it’s bad. Don’t go snooping in her business to try to figure it out. I mean it, this is serious; maybe as serious as the case with Jodee.”
Janice looked intrigued but she took his warning seriously. “All right. I won’t Google her. Though I am tempted. This is going to drive me crazy.”
“Yeah, me too,” Paul muttered darkly. But he intended to get to the bottom of Liv’s mysteries, one way or another.
SIX
Olivia tore open the envelope she pulled from the mailbox and quickly scanned the contents. She didn’t receive much mail and she wished she hadn’t gotten this piece either. It was an evacuation notice. Apparently the owner planned to sell the condo and wanted her to vacate within two weeks. She’d moved with less notice, mere minutes, thanks to Ethan’s henchmen chasing after her, but she wasn’t ready for this one. She didn’t want to leave Paul.
She glanced around the condo to mentally tabulate what needed packing. Very little would go with her since the home came furnished. She had her clothes, a burned CD of her favorite classical music for working out, a few books. She had to travel light and kept a bag ready at all times.
The real question was should she go ahead and leave now? Things were getting dicey. She’d been in Colorado three weeks. That was plenty of time for Ethan to track her down. The longest she’d stayed anywhere was two months but the time in each location was getting shorter and shorter. She’d never gotten to know her neighbors or formed relationships with co-workers. There were a couple of girls at work she liked. And she was in danger of falling in love with Paul. She’d lost her mind, and certainly her edge of caution. Yes, she definitely needed to leave. She reached for her duffle that contained her new ID along with emergency provisions. She pulled out the envelope of cash and frowned. She didn’t have enough, but she would have to make do.
First, she had to tell Paul she was leaving. She owed him an explanation but it was a confrontation she dreaded.
She stuffed as much as she could fit into the bag then left the condo after a final look around. There was no sense in prolonging her stay by the full two weeks. What would fourteen days matter when she had to move either way?
As she pulled the door closed and turned the multiple locks Paul had install
ed she spotted him jogging up the main pathway of their complex. Her heart rate quickened at the sight of him. She didn’t want to tell him goodbye but she had no choice.
She waited on their joined front porch as he jogged up the walk and came to a huffing stop in front of her. He eyed her heavy bag warily and swiped his hand down his face. She bit her lip nervously as she waited for him to catch his breath.
“Going somewhere?” he asked finally. He sounded grim and resigned.
Olivia gave him a reluctant nod and handed him the letter from her landlord. She figured it would explain things better than she could. At least he would understand why she was leaving. He quickly scanned the letter and handed it back to her.
“You can’t go,” he stated firmly as he brushed past her and unlocked his door.
